June 17, 2021 3:49 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Montreal Canadiens aren’t going to go away quietly in the Stanley Cup semifinals. The Habs have evened the series at a game apiece as Carey Price stopped 29 saves in a 3-2 win over the Golden Knights in Las Vegas. Price improved to 9-4 in the playoffs, his most victories in a postseason. Eight of those wins have come in Montreal’s last nine games. Paul Byron, Joel Armia and Tyler Toffoli scored for Montreal, with Byron making it 3-0 with 2:45 left in the second period. The Habs have won 21 straight playoff games when scoring at least three goals. Alex Pietrangelo scored twice for Vegas and Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves. The Knights had won five in a row since dropping the first two games of their second-round series in Colorado. Game 3 is Friday night in Montreal.
June 16, 2021 3:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Yan Gomes connected for a grand slam and Trea Turner got four hits, leading Patrick Corbin and the Washington Nationals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-1. The Nationals won their third in a row and sent Pittsburgh to its ninth straight loss. Corbin pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run and eight hits. He struck out seven and walked one while going at least eight innings for the first time since Aug. 21, 2019. Gomes’ slam finished a five-run first inning against Tyler Anderson.
June 14, 2021 3:22 am
Rain forced a late start then a nearly 40-minute delay in game but West Greene responded well to the down time, pushing 12 runs across after the break to roll past DuBois Central Catholic. With the win, the Pioneers will make their fourth PIAA title game appearance in the past five seasons.
The season came to an end for Canon-McMillan as the Big Macs gave up 10 runs over a three inning span, losing to North Penn, 10-0, in five innings. The Big Macs managed just four singles and a walk while striking out a dozen times against Coastal Carolina recruit Mady Volpe.
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PIAA Final, Beard Field, Penn State University
Friday, June 18
11 am — West Greene vs. District 11 champion Tri-Valley
June 16, 2021 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – New Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada intends to build off the strengths of two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger while also placing a renewed emphasis on the run game. The Steelers promoted Canada after Randy Fichtner’s contract wasn’t renewed following a first-round playoff loss to the Browns. They hope Canada injects some life into an offense that sputtered down the stretch last season. The run game that finished last in the NFL in 2020 is expected to feature rookie Najee Harris this season. The Steelers hope the former Alabama standout they drafted in the first round will provide an immediate boost.
June 16, 2021 3:51 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The Tampa Bay Lightning had been waiting all postseason to get a goal from their defensemen. They got a pair on Tuesday to even their Stanley Cup semifinal series with the New York Islanders at a game apiece. Blueliners Jan Rutta and Victor Hedman scored seven minutes apart in the third period to give the Bolts a 4-1 lead in a 4-2 win over the Isles. Rutta scored for the first time in December 2019, which proved to be the game-winner. Nikita Kucherov set up goals by Hedman, Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat, one game after Tampa Bay waited until the final minute to beat Semyon Varlamov. Brock Nelson and Mat Barzal had the Islanders goals against Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 24 shots. Game 3 is Thursday at Nassau Coliseum.
June 15, 2021 3:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Kyle Schwarber homered again to snap a seventh-inning tie and drove in two runs for the Washington Nationals in their 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jon Lester pitched 5 1/3 solid innings to help the Nationals win for the third time in four games. Schwarber’s homer was his fourth in three days. The Nationals moved him to the leadoff spot Saturday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader. He led off that game with a home run, hit two more on Sunday and launched the go-ahead shot this time against reliever Clay Holmes. Schwarber also had an RBI single in the third and walked. Brad Hand pitched the ninth for his 12th save.
June 15, 2021 3:52 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Montreal Canadiens came down to earth on Monday by dropping Game 1 of their Stanley Cup semifinal series with the Golden Knights in Las Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves and the Knights picked up their fifth straight win by stifling the Habs, 4-1. Shea Theodore had a goal and an assist for Vegas, which also received tallies from Alec Martinez, Mattias Janmark, and Nick Holden. The Canadiens had won seven straight since falling behind three games to one in their first-round series against Toronto. Rookie Cole Caufield scored his first career playoff goal for Montreal, while goaltender Carey Price made 26 saves.
June 14, 2021 3:44 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Avisaíl García hit a two-run homer, Christian Yelich added a pinch-hit sacrifice fly on his bobblehead day and the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 5-2 win. Despite getting outhit 10-5, Milwaukee won for the 14th time in 16 games, including seven in a row at home. The Pirates have lost seven straight. They were swept in back-to-back series after losing three at home against the Dodgers before heading to Milwaukee. Brent Suter picked up the win, getting the final out in the sixth. Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth for his 17th save in as many chances.
June 14, 2021 3:53 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The New York Islanders have opened their semifinal series by knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champs. Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves and the Isles got goals from Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock to beat the Lightning, 2-1 in Tampa. Varlamov blanked Tampa Bay until Brayden Point netted a power-play goal in the final minute. Varlamov won his fourth straight playoff start, joining teammate Ilya Sorokin as only the third pair of netminding teammates to have personal winning streaks of at least four games in a single postseason. Barzal scored for the fourth time in five games, making it 1-0 on a breakaway in the second period following a bad pass by Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Pulock doubled New York’s lead with a shot from the point that eluded Andre Vasilevskiy, who was otherwise brilliant in net. The Islanders will carry a four-game winning streak into Game 2 on Tuesday in Tampa.
June 12, 2021 2:40 am
Canon-McMillan and West Greene softball teams both needed extra innings to stay alive in the state playoffs Thursday. Abby Allen (CM) and Kiley Meek (WG) each stroked two-run homers in the 10th inning to put their teams into the semifinals. Canon-Mac will play North Penn. West Greene faces DuBois Central Catholic.
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PIAA Semifinals
Monday, June 14
Canon-McMillan vs. D1 North Penn, 1:50 pm at Mechanicsburg High School – WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here!
West Greene vs. District 9 champion DuBois Central Catholic, 12 noon at Slippery Rock University
SOFTBALL Quarterfinals — Three times, Neshaminy took a one-run lead on Canon-McMillan in Thursday’s 6A quarterfinal game. Twice, the Big Macs scored a single run shortly thereafter to tie the game. Trailing 3-2 in the 10th inning, Canon-McMillan had had enough. Not only did the Big Macs tie the game, two batters later, they walked off with the win and a berth in the state semifinals. Abby Allen battled to a full count, including a couple two-strike fouls, then crushed a drive over the left-field fence, her second two-run home run of the playoffs as the Big Macs’ bench erupted and met Allen at home plate. Brooke Perri got the win in relief, allowing just one unearned run over six innings of work. The lefty gave up three hits and did not walk a batter.
Canon-Mac looked for a clutch hit most of the day, finding just enough timely hitting to stay close. Elika Mowery singled in Grace Higgins to tie the game in the third. Taylor Eckles lofted a bloop into center, again plating Higgins, evening the score after five. And that’s where it stayed until the tenth when the international tie-breaker rule took effect, putting the previous inning’s last batter on second base to start the frame. Neshaminy tried twice to sacrifice that runner to third and failed before Kylie Siwek doubled in the run with two out in the inning. In the bottom of the tenth, Perri’s courtesy runner Sami Merkle started at second base. Eckles bunted her over and when the throw to first got away, Merkle raced home to tie the game at 3-3. With Eckles at first, Allen twice failed on bunt attempts, falling behind 0-2 in the count. Three balls and a couple fouled off pitches later, Allen drilled a long foul down the left-field line. Neshaminy players took a collective deep breath. On the very next pitch, Allen caught a fastball out over the plate and hit a drive over the fence in left for the win. The hit for Allen was her first in the state playoffs and just her second since her two-run bomb against Norwin in the WPIAL semifinals.
In a back and forth quarterfinal matchup at Slippery Rock, West Greene got a two-run home run in the top of the 10th from winning pitcher Kiley Meek, then held off another rally attempt by Cambridge Springs to win, 6-5. Both teams had leads and late chances to win the game but couldn’t get the final out needed until the Pioneers slammed the door in the tenth.
